Family of Strangers
by Morningview
Summary: Joren has finally entered the castle and things are never going to be the same. Are the people ready for change?
1. Prologue

(A/N) Just to reiterate. This is an AU (which stands for A**nother** U**niverse**) story, so yes, I know that the characters are not in Tortall. They are in my own made up kingdom of Lingheren. I wanted to work with TP's characters in a whole new enviorment and see how they would interact. I've even changed their social positions. No longer are they nobles, but now Kel and some of the gang are servants to the Earl and Duchess of Lingheren. Who are the Earl and Duchess? No one other than Jonathan and Alanna. No this is not a A/J story. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I wanted to write my own version of what their lives would have been like if they had gotten married and how it would have effected their children also. The main plot to this story is about an evil servant (Joren) who comes to find work inside the castle with a goal to bring down the family and everyone else inside. His motives will be found out towards the end of the story. My story will not have a happy ending. I never write stories with happy endings, I don't know why, so don't expect one :-)

***

                A group of lost riders made it over the steep hill to come upon an unknown castle surrounded by a massive, high wall almost covered completely by moss and thick leaves of ivy. It was first noticed the moldy look to the entire castle. One could tell it had been there for centuries, for the castle itself was covered just as its outer walls. Ivy could be seen crawling up along the stone and into some of the open windows. Unknown organisms that had been growing for ages had formed kingdoms of their own and were now living happily eating upon the stone. The color of the castle was now green from the color of the mildew that covered it. No one could possibly live in an environment like that, but the little bodies of people seen bustling around the inside of the walls contradicted the thought.

            The riders sat in silence upon their horses surveying the area in front of them. Without speaking, the four turned their horses away from the sad image. The castle emanated the smell of despair and the feeling of evil things to come. They would rather brave the wilderness than set foot in the falling kingdom before them; the aging kingdom called Lingheren.


	2. Enter Agnes

(A/N)In this part, I'm introducing to you my own character Agnes and TP's own character Kel. I'm sorry if it's a little boring towards the end, but I'm trying to get into some of the past history of Ligheren and the characters within the kingdom. Please tell me what you think so far. I know it all probably seems a little far-fetched, but I wanted to take some of Tammy's characters and put them into a whole another universe to see how they would act. Please, stick with me here, I promise it will get better as the story goes on. Enjoy! 

"Lady Agnes?"

"What?"

"Please open the door."

"No!"

Keladry Mindelan sighed and leaned her forehead against the rotten, termite-eaten door. She knew it wouldn't be a problem kicking the large thing down, she'd done it many times before, but then it'd be her job to fix it and she was too lazy at the moment to even think about picking up a hammer.

"Leave me alone. Go away!" A loud bang against the door caused Keladry to jump back from where she had been resting her head. The little chit had thrown something across the room. Growling in great frustration, Kel counted to ten and then proceeded to take a deep breath of air that just happened to be thick with dust. Every once and a while someone in the castle was lucky enough to receive an inhalation of dusty air and it seemed today Keladry had won the jackpot. After her coughing fit passed, Kel decided to try a different maneuver.

"Lady, I brought a present for you. I can't give it to you if you don't open the door." Kel listened and heard a squeak followed by a thud as if Agnes had jumped off her bed. 

"Do you really? What is it?" The voice sounded as if it was coming through the keyhole. Kneeling down to match the lady's voice, Kel spoke enticingly.

"It's a secret, Lady Agnes. The person who gave it to me made me promise not to tell you. I'm supposed to deliver it into your hands personally."

All movement and noise stopped on the opposite side of the door. The deathly silence was so great that Kel believed her plan had not worked until she heard the sudden, quick sound of bolts being removed and a creek as the door opened less than an inch for Agnes to peer out of. An inch was all that Keladry needed. She rammed her shoulder into the crack and pushed into the room closing the door after herself. Agnes had jumped back onto her bed and was standing in a defensive pose waiting for Kel to make her move. 

Keladry sighed internally and stared up at the sad figure before her. At seventeen years, the same age as Kel, herself, Agnes seemed to be overly immature. While her body had developed into a young woman of her age, her mind seemed to had stayed behind. Lady Agnes Finber of Ligheren just never grew up. Kel, lost in quiet contemplation of the girl in front of her, didn't realize until too late that Agnes, like a cheetah, had shot passed her and was now running down the hall. Immediately, she started after the lady. How in the world her charge could run like that in a dress was beyond Keladry. Almost after a few seconds into the chase Kel lost sight of Lady Agnes. Leaning her back against the cool, stone wall she sank herself onto the floor. She didn't know what to do, but was determined not to give up. Agnes would disappear for days at a time and then show up again out of the blue. It was up to Kel to try to discover where the girl went to. All she had figured out so far was that there was some secret passage that led in and out of Agnes's bedchamber. She just didn't know where it was. All she could do now was wait until Lady Agnes came back and try again.

Slowly getting up, Kel began to walk down the long, silent, hall listening to the sound of her shoes echo as they hit the cobblestone floor. She thought she had been so lucky when her Ladyship, the Duchess Alanna Finber had promoted her to being a lady's maid to Lady Agnes, the eldest of the royal children. It's not that Keladry didn't enjoy the job, it was just the fact that it took up all of her time. Agnes, once a person got to know her, wasn't that bad to be around. Except for the childish part, she was wonderful and fun, but Agnes, being an introvert, didn't let people get close to her, ever. Not even her own mother and father. Then again, no one in the family was very close. The Duchess never came to see Agnes or any of her own children for that matter. The last time the royal mother had seen her daughter was about a year ago when the birth of Donovan occurred and Agnes had gone to see her new, little brother (which she was none to happy about).

The Earl Jonathan, was just the same. He was always living in the library with his books and only came out on the children's birthdays or royal functions he was required to attend. Otherwise he would just send Gervaise, the middle child and male heir to Ligheren, to take care of whatever needed to be done. It was a sad family indeed. 

Lost in thought, Kel continued to walk down the narrow hall towards an unknown destination when she heard a loud crash and a yell come from behind one of the doors behind her.


	3. Enter a Man

(A/N)Sorry that this chapter is so short!  I wanted it to be on it's own just so you could get a taste of who this character is, or who he might be J  Have any idea?  Hahaha.  Anyways, the next chapter will be longer, I promise.  Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tammy's characters, I only own my own.  If I were the sole owner of all, I would be living on an island alone with Neal while we discussed philosophy and he wrote me bad poetry. Kay?

The young man slunk through the wilting bushes and foraged a path towards "destination somewhere."  At the moment he was trying to figure out a way into the castle without entering through the main doors.  A castle that had been around for more than six-hundred years had to have hidden passages and he wasn't going to give up until he found one.  He had a plan and he was going to follow it.  

The stranger continued through the dead plants squinting and brushing things aside, anything to give him a better view of his surroundings.  He paused for an instant to scratch at a bug bite that had appeared on his arm, then took a step forward and fell through the ground landing at least twenty feet below his starting point.  The sharp pain in his back and the blackness that surrounded him forced him to remain motionless while he adapted to his new surroundings.  After a few minutes the blackness dissipated and the large bruise on his back became a dull throb.  He moved his head to the right and left studying the area he had stumbled upon.  The only source of light he could see was the gray and haziness coming through from the new-formed hole in the earth, otherwise, the darkness was so thick it seemed it would be able to swallow him whole.  

Slowly getting up he tested his limbs for any injuries he couldn't see.  Except for some deep scratches and the large bruise that now covered his back, he seemed okay.  Taking his first step, he leaned against the wall and began to feel his way down the passageway that was beginning to grow darker as he stepped farther away from the light.  Beginning to smile his thoughts began to move a mile minute.  He believed he found what he was looking for.  Before he got more excited he needed to find out where this tunnel ended. 

 At that last thought, his face, along with the rest of his body collided with something hard and what seemed to be wooden.  Flinching from the shock, he felt his hands along the uneven wood, collecting unseen splinters on his hands as he went a long.  His right hand hit something solid and cold.  Using both hands he explored further and found the new object to be a doorknob.  A door!  He had found a door!  Tightening his hands around it, he began to pull with the strength he had left.  Nothing.  Taking a deep breath and rubbing his cut up hands together he tried again and received a budge.  Continuing to pull harder he was caught off guard as the door shot open with a loud groan from hinges that hadn't been oiled for centuries.  

The first thing the man noticed was the light that came shining through.  He quickly shut his eyes against the sharp glare.  After being in the blind tunnel for so long his eyes had adjusted and the new color was more than his pupils could bear.  After a few seconds he slowly started opening his eyes and began to look around the room he had just entered.  He was inside the castle!  He just knew it!  The unwanted stranger began to giggle manically and dance around the room like a performing clown.  Not paying attention to where he was stepping he tripped over a random table and fell, hitting his head with a smack against the floor and passing, once again, into the held out arms of darkness.


	4. Meetings

Kel turned around from the direction she was heading and slowly began to walk towards the unknown sound coming from one of the many sitting rooms of the East Wing. She was unsure how to act in this kind of situation because Lingheren barely ever changed its internal affairs inside the castle. Everyday was as monotonous and boring as the next. Reaching the door, she turned the knob and with a feeling of curiosity more than of fear threw it open to reveal Neal lying on his stomach staring at the floor. All around him were books, some lying open, some with pages bent, while others lay closed on top of her friend and fellow servant of Lingheren. Keladry immediately with a smile on her face trotted over to where Neal was splayed out on the floor.

"What happened?" She asked covering up a laugh.

Neal didn't move, but continued to lie where he was, the right side of his face pressed against the ground giving it a smushed up look. Without changing position he answered Kel.

"I stole some books from the library to read and figured I could hide them in here since no one ever uses it. I tripped over the carpet and fell. I feel pain." He finished pitifully.

"Smart. I mean this castle has, what, about 400 rooms? Good job, Neal. Good job." Kel smiled and began to walk away.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"I need help up."

Kel sighed and gave Neal her hand. Grunting, he got to his feet and began to pick up the books around him.

"Okay, I have to get back to work now. This has been enough of a detour for me." Kel picked up the last book and handed it to her friend. "See you around and watch your step." Snickering she opened the door.

"What do you mean you have work to do?" Asked Neal. "Since when does Lady Agnes call on you to do anything?"

"I-I do things." Keladry stuttered.

"Like?"

"Like-I clean her room…that is when it's not locked. Oh! I take her dresses to Daine to be cleaned…that is when she wears them. She's always wearing that same dress all the time. You know the scarlet one with that makeshift rope she ties around her waist. Ugly thing."

"No, actually I don't since I've never seen her."

Neal who had been working at the castle for almost as long as Kel had never seen the Lady Agnes, as neither had most of the castle servants or its inhabitants. Agnes, since her childhood, liked to play hide-and-go seek. As a grown-up, young woman, she still enjoyed her own version of it.

"Well you're not missing much." Kel said giving Neal a smile. "Meet me in sitting room number fourty-four in about an hour. That'll give you sometime to look through your stolen books. Have fun." Kel walked shut the door behind her leaving Neal to his philosophy.

*** 

Agnes giggled as she ran down a passage with her hands in the air touching the ceiling. She had once again escaped from Kel and knew that her maid would never find her. No one ever did. As much as she knew, Agnes, herself was the only one who knew about the secret passages in her home, Lingheren, and that's the way she liked it. 

As she ran towards her destination she talked to herself.

"No one can ever find me. My name is Agnes. Let me be!"

Reaching the end of the twisting maze, Agnes opened the door that she had arrived at and stepped into her "playroom." What Agnes thought of as her room, was really an ancient storage for old furniture and odds and ends of the castle that had not been used for centuries. It was so old, that the members of the castle had eventually forgotten about it and had found a new place to store their old things. To Agnes, it was heaven. It was in that room where Agnes felt free and was able to be alone. The Lady liked to be by herself, she'd always been that way as long as she could remember. 

She walked throughout the room humming to herself a song she had made up a couple days ago while sitting on one of the dusty sofas. Her favorite one with the holes in it. As she turned behind one of the antique armoires her heart stopped beating and a cold chill ran throughout her body causing her to shiver. Right in front of her was a young man she had never seen before. A stranger had found his way into her world. _Her_ world. He seemed to her to be sleeping, but Agnes didn't want to wait for him to wake up. Backing up to one of the tables, she picked up a vase filled with water that had once held flowers she had picked from outside. Never turning her back to the man, she walked towards him, turned the vase over and let the old, mucky water spill out upon him. 

Immediately the stranger sat up sputtering and hastily wiping the filth from his eyes and mouth. Gasping from the shock he looked up at Agnes, speechless. The girl, who had stood and watched his before-mentioned actions, began to back away slowly while speaking.

"Who are you and what are you doing in _my_ room?" Agnes was beginning to get angry.

"I'm sorry, my lady." The young man said as he got up. "I did not mean to intrude into your room." He bowed low towards the ground and looked up.

"Get out, get out, get out!" Agnes yelled.

"My lady, please. I need your help."

"I don't care. Who are you?"

"I'm sorry, Lady, my name is Joren Stonemountain. I've traveled far looking for work. I came across this lovely kingdom of yours-"

"It's not mine and Lingheren is ugly." Agnes interrupted.

"Who does this special place belong to?"

"My father. Get out."

Ignoring the last sentence, Joren continued. "So you're the daughter of the castle, yes?"

"Get out."

"You're probably wondering how I came to be here."

"Maybe."

"Well you see, my lady, I fell through a hole in the ground and followed a pathway to this door. I tripped over that table over there and passed out."

"I don't care. Get out."

"Do you like to be alone, Lady?"

Agnes paused before answering looking at Joren curiously. "Yes. I guess."

"I'm that way too. I love feeling alone knowing that I have nothing resting on my shoulders, not having to care about others, only yourself. I also understand what it's like to have your own special place. This is your special place, is it not?"

"Yes."

"Well, I am sorry that I have intruded, my lady. I will leave you be quickly, but first I need your help. As I told you before I am in need of a job. Could you help me find one? Preferably in the castle?"

"Why should I help you?"

"Because we're so much alike, my lady. People like us should help each other."

"You smell."

"Well, you did dump that dirty water on me, Lady, remember?"

"Fine, but come this way quickly." Turning, she made her way through the junk and towards the door with Joren at her tail. If she had turned around at that moment to look at her new companion, Agnes would have seen a smile a triumph. Joren Stonemountain was finally where he needed to be.


End file.
